www.northamptonshire.co.uk

THE internet guide to Northamptonshire UK

YOUR TOWN, YOUR VILLAGE, YOUR COUNTY
COMMUNITY FORUMS

This is a very basic introduction to the forums - what they are, how to read messages and how to post your own messages to them. If forums are new to you, we suggest you print out this page and keep it for reference.
WHAT THE FORUMS ARE
Each forum is like an electronic notice board. There is a 'notice board' for each major town in Northamptonshire as well as separate notice boards for areas of particular interest. Anyone who is registered can post a message to any of these 'notice boards' - and like an ordinary notice board, anyone that looks at the board is able to read the message. People who are registered can also post replies to the message on the board, which again everyone can read.

REGISTRATION
Registration is necessary to prevent abuse and only takes a couple of minutes. It is a one - time requirement. After that you anyone that's registered can log on to the forum with their user name whenever they visit. New messages are automatically indicated and registered users are free to post their own message, or reply to others.
As part of the registration process it is necessary to register an e-mail address, but apart from that you can make postings to the forum using your forum name - full names and addresses are not disclosed.

WHO RUNS THESE FORUMS?
The forums are part of www.northamptonshire.co.uk a county web site that has been up and running since 1997 and receives around 1/2M hits every month. THE WEB SITE IS NOT RUN OR CONTROLLED BY ANY LOCAL AUTHORITY OR OFFICIAL ORGANISATION, NOR DO WE RECEIVE ANY OFFICIAL FUNDING FOR THE SITE, which is mainly financed from our own resources and from revenue generated by advertisers, to whom we are extremely grateful. It is run by people who live in, and love, Northamptonshire for the benefit of visitors - and we are always glad to receive comments and suggestions regarding content.

If you have any qestions or comments regarding the forums, please feel free to click here and send us an e-mail.

HOW TO REGISTER	To register and be able to make postings to the forum, click on the word 'register' which you will see at the top of the main index page. This will take you to the registration page
	On the registration page, there are a number of boxes which require completion. ONLY THOSE WITH AN ASTERIX * ARE COMPULSORY - you are free to leave the others blank. The last section deal with forum settings and these can be left at the default settings.
	As part of the registration process, you are asked to agree to some terms and conditions, dealing in particular with forum abuse. If you are happy with these, click on the I agree line, appropriate for your age and registration will be complete.
USING THE FORUMS	The main index (which you can always return to by clicking the link at the bottom of the page) contains a list of all the 'notice boards' or forums, which are available. You can look at a particular notice board by clicking on the board's title.
	You will then be take to the notice board screen, which will show a list of all the messages that have book posted to a particular board. You can read a message and all the replies to it by clicking on the message title.
	The actual message will then be displayed for you to read, along with replies. If you wish to post a reply yourself click on the 'post reply' button. If you want to post a completely new message, click on the 'new topic' button.
	You will be taken to a screen which allows you to compose your message. The only things you need to worry about here are typing in a title, and typing the text of the message. Nothing else is necessary.
	When you have completed your message, make sure the box at the bottom which says 'notify me when a reply is posted' is ticked. You will then receive an e-mail if anyone replies to your posting. You can then either tick the preview button, if you want to check your message, or if you're happy with it you can click on the 'submit' button and your message will be posted on the notice board!

FORUM INDEX - MAIN INDEX

www.northamptonshire.co.uk

THE internet guide to Northamptonshire UK

WHAT THE FORUMS ARE

REGISTRATION

WHO RUNS THESE FORUMS?

HOW TO REGISTER

To register and be able to make postings to the forum, click on the word 'register' which you will see at the top of the main index page. This will take you to the registration page

On the registration page, there are a number of boxes which require completion. ONLY THOSE WITH AN ASTERIX * ARE COMPULSORY - you are free to leave the others blank. The last section deal with forum settings and these can be left at the default settings.

As part of the registration process, you are asked to agree to some terms and conditions, dealing in particular with forum abuse. If you are happy with these, click on the I agree line, appropriate for your age and registration will be complete.

USING THE FORUMS

The main index (which you can always return to by clicking the link at the bottom of the page) contains a list of all the 'notice boards' or forums, which are available. You can look at a particular notice board by clicking on the board's title.

You will then be take to the notice board screen, which will show a list of all the messages that have book posted to a particular board. You can read a message and all the replies to it by clicking on the message title.

The actual message will then be displayed for you to read, along with replies. If you wish to post a reply yourself click on the 'post reply' button. If you want to post a completely new message, click on the 'new topic' button.

You will be taken to a screen which allows you to compose your message. The only things you need to worry about here are typing in a title, and typing the text of the message. Nothing else is necessary.